The goal for the MSU-BRIN is to increase biomedical research capacity and enhance research opportunities for faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates in Montana by developing a network of doctoral and four-year universities, as well as tribally-controlled community colleges. To this end, the MSU-BRIN will develop a TMC that will expand research, mentoring, and collaborative opportunities for faculty and students; a BC that will deliver training in advanced bioinformatics tools and improve electronic communication among partner institutions, a CFC that will address the need for a bioinformatics facility to serve all campuses and participants in the network, and an AC to coordinate network activities, communication, outreach, and project assessment. MSU, a Ph.D.-granting institution, will serve as the network lead institution. Partner institutions are MSU-Billings (MSUB), MSUN), the McLaughlin Research Institute (MRI) for Biomedical Sciences, and six tribal colleges: Blackfeet Community College (BCC), Dull Knife Memorial College (DKMC), Little Big Horn College (LBHC), Fort Belknap Community College (FBCC), Fort Peck Community College (FPCC), and Stone Child Community College (SCCC).